![\"Canopy](\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/files\/2010\/05\/CanopyWalk.JPG\")
<\/a>above the canopy.\u00a0 Scarlet Macaws, Blue-and-Yellow Macaws and Mealy Parrots flew above the trees.\u00a0 I was surprised at the diversity and abundance of butterflies in the canopy.<\/p>\n
I have just recently returned from nearly two weeks in Ecuador.\u00a0 I was a participant in a faculty seminar in environmental science, sponsored by IES Abroad.\u00a0 We were based in Quito but had time for excursions to the Ecuadorian Amazon and to the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands.\u00a0 In today\u2019s column, I will describe some of the Amazonian highlights.<\/p>\n
The Tibutini Biodiversity Station (hereafter, TBS) was our destination for our Amazonian excursion.\u00a0 The station, maintained by the University of San Francisco at Quito, is located along the Tibutini River, a tributary of the Amazon.\u00a0 The Amazon is the largest river in the world and drains more water than the next ten rivers combined.\u00a0 The Amazonian watershed encompasses 40% of the area of South America.\u00a0 Amazonia is well known for its biodiversity.\u00a0\u00a0 But the TBS and the adjacent Yasuni National Park are exceptionally diverse.\u00a0 One can argue that this region is the most diverse habitat on earth. \u00a0The area is at the center of a small zone where amphibian, bird, mammal, and plant diversity all reach their maximum levels within the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
To say that the TBS is remote is no exaggeration.\u00a0 To get there, we flew south from Quito to Coca, a small town on the Napo River.\u00a0 A couple of White-fronted Toucans gave us great looks in trees along the river.\u00a0 White-winged Swallows, a close relative of our Tree Swallows, hawked insects over the water.<\/p>\n
We continued our journey by boarding a large motor-powered canoe for two hours down the Napo River to a landing at a parcel of land, currently leased by a petroleum company.\u00a0 After passing through the security check, we waited for a bus for the next leg of our journey.\u00a0 Birding at the landing, we found Smooth-billed Anis, Purple Martins (soon to depart for North America, no doubt), a Roadside Hawk, a Palm Tanager, a Blue-gray Tanager and a pair of Chestnut-bellied Seedeaters.<\/p>\n
The open-air bus carried us for two hours to the Tibutini River where we boarded another canoe for another two-hour trip to the landing at TBS.\u00a0 As we docked, a Drab Water-tyrant, a flycatcher, hawked for insects along the riverbank.\u00a0 Climbing the stairs to the dining hall, we had a nice look at an aptly named Sicklebill, a large hummingbird with a strongly curved bill, perfect for extracting nectar from the Heliconia plants growing near the dining hall.<\/p>\n
TBS maintains a canopy walk and a canopy tower to facilitate the study of plants and animals high in the canopy of the dense forest.\u00a0 On our first full day, we split into two groups, spending half the day on the canopy walk and half on the<\/p>\n
tower.\u00a0 I did the canopy walk in the morning.\u00a0 It was wonderful to be 120 feet high and<\/p>\n above the canopy.\u00a0 Scarlet Macaws, Blue-and-Yellow Macaws and Mealy Parrots flew above the trees.\u00a0 I was surprised at the diversity and abundance of butterflies in the canopy.<\/p>\n<\/a>